production capacity.”For costume suppliers and their retailcustomers, social media trends often movemore quickly than anyone can react. Acharacter or idea that is hot for a few daysor weeks could be out of sight and mindjust as quickly.

“Your costume is only as good as yourlast social media post, and don’t blinkbecause you could be the front pagetrending article today and totally gonetomorrow,” observes Robert Berman,president and CEO of Rasta Imposta. “Socialmedia has shortened America’s attentionspan on pop culture events and happeningsto the point where you are finished if youare not trending on a daily basis.”Berman adds that “it’s difficult to predictwhat is going to sell, so all we can do isoffer enough variety to appeal to the diverseworld we have.”“We certainly review all the major, andsome of the minor, social sites lookingfor ideas, inspiration and clues to whatconsumers are engaged in,” explains ChuckMartinez, executive partner and CEO ofInCharacter Costumes. “Because lead timesfrom concept to actual production are long,it’s tricky. We have to judge if what weare seeing is a real trend or just a fad thatmight be over by the time the product hitsthe market. And no matter how big thetrend is, one question looms: Will this ideatranslate into a great costume that someonewill want to wear?”The vicissitudes of social media requireconstant vigilance, so where should aHalloween retailer focus his or her attention?The Pew Research Center conducted anational survey of 1,520 adults betweenMarch 7 and April 4, 2016, and publishedthe results last November in its “SocialMedia Update 2016.” The table at the topof this page breaks down consumer usageof Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest andTwitter. In the column on the right, weclose this section with 10 takeaways fromthe data. n

1 Of the total U.S. adult population,
which includes those who do not use
the Internet, 68% use Facebook, 28%
use Instagram, 26% use Pinterest and

21% use Twitter.

2The share of online adults using
Facebook in 2016 rose 7 percentage
points since 2015, according to Pew
studies taken at the same point in
both years.

3 In 2016, 76% of Facebook users
visited the network daily. That is an

8.6% increase from 70% in 2015.

4More older adults are using
Facebook. Among online adults aged

65 and older, 62% used Facebook in

2016, a 29% increase over 2015, when
fewer than half of this group (48%)
were on Facebook.

5Almost one-third of online adults
use Instagram. The share of online
adults using the network rose 5
percentage points in 2016 to 32%, up
from 27% in 2015.

6 Use of Instagram by 18- to 29-year
olds (59% online adults in that age
group) is almost double the share
among 30- to 49-year-olds (33%).

7 After Facebook, Instagram is the
social network most likely to be used
daily, with 51% of Instagram users
visiting every day.

8 While a larger share of women
than men use Facebook, Instagram,
Pinterest and Twitter, women are
especially predominant on Pinterest.

Forty-five percent of online women use
Pinterest, but only 17% of men.

9 More than one-third (36%) of
online adults ages 18-29 are on
Twitter, compared to just 10% of U.S.
internet users age 65 or over.

10 Users of Twitter, Instagram and
Pinterest are highly likely to also be
on Facebook. Ninety-five percent of
Instagram users, 93% of Twitter users
and 92% of Pinterest users are also
Facebook members.